I couldn’t resist

Here are my All Star votes:

1B: Kevin Youkilis-Everything about him I am loving right now. It was either him, Morneau or Ortiz. I went with Youk because of his, seemingly, solid defense. It was tough between he and Ortiz, but he has really stepped it up since Beckett has been out.

2B: BJ Upton-His OPS was just too tough to ignore. He is defensively chllenged, but his offensive numbers stand out so much that I felt I had to take him.

3B: Alex Rodriguez-Who else could I possibly have taken? Carried this team to a below .500 record, which is not his fault at all. Sorry Mike Lowell, but you just arent Arod, and you arent even Mike Lowell on defense so far this year.

SS: Derek Jeter-This was tough because Carlos Guillen has such impressive numbers again, and is going to be overshadowed…again. But he might be worse than Jeter on D, it might be a toss up though. So I go with the guy who gets a hit in every game.

C: Jorge Posada-Well, Joe Mauer has been hurt. He is the best catcher in the AL. But Posada has been the best so far. His OPS is ridiculous. And my entire infield consists of AL East players.

OF: Vlad Guerrero-May end up being my MVP. I picked him before the season anyway.

OF: Torri Hunter-Very good season in his…ahem…contract year. But he is good anyway.

OF: Magglio Ordonez-Unexpected that he is playing this well. He has been good, but right now is great.

NL:

1B: Todd Helton-This was very hard for me to choose. Helton is playing well on the road and is good with the glove. Lee isnt bad with the glove either, and Gonzalez has been tearing up the numbers in a pitchers park. But I went with Helton, best OPS, good glove. Sorry to Prince Fielder as well.

3B: Chipper Jones- With the other Jones playing atrocious ball, he is crushing the ball.

SS: JJ Hardy-There are a few too many good to great SS’s in the NL. I went Hardy, because he is tearing it up. But Reyes is playing well, Ramirez is too, cannot forget Rollins. This was a very difficult choice. And Hardy seems like he is a defensive liability, which made it even more difficult. The Brewers are in first, and I feel like he has been a huge piece of that.

OF: Barry Bonds-Best OPS in the NL. Seems to be, dare we say, becoming a better teammate? Maybe he is learning a little. Still a below average teammate though.

OF-Ken Griffey Jr.-Awesome year! His team is pathetic, but it isnt because of him. He actually deserves this vote as of now, not just because he is Griffey either.

OF: Aaron Rowand-I like the way he plays. All out style. Has very good offensive numbers. Tough to choose between he and Beltran, but I took Rowand. I do think that by seasons end, or even closer to the break, that Beltran will overtake him. But I am voting based on what has happened so far.

C: Russ Martin-Tough choice, because I don’t see a lot of these players except on "Baseball Tonight." I don’t know how good of game callers they are. But I know Martin has a reputation for being good on both sides of the ball. And his numbers are much better than Mccann’s as of now.

I was trying to be as unbiased as possible. I dont think anyone will argue against the Youkilis choice, even though they may actually choose someone else. I may vote a few more times a little later in the voting process.

2B – Brian Roberts (not clear cut, but it’s my pick now until something changes. For me the AVG and the steals, and walks were tough for me to overcome. I do thin Upton is a good choice as well.)

3B – Alex Rodriguez (if there was a catagory for “almost dirty plays” that would disqualify him — I would. But his numbers justify this one).

SS – Derek Jeter — pretty much a slam dunk

OF – Vlad Guerrero

OF – Torri Hunter (my heart wanted to go with Ichiro but you can’t look past the fantastic season that Torri’s been having with the bat and the glove)

OF – Magglio Ordonez (slam dunk)

these were my personal choices for the AL even before I saw yours.

So we agree on almost the whole card and one of is a Yankees fan and one of us is a Red Sox fan.

Go figure?

Is it really so hard for some people to be more impartial?

Cano doesnt deserve to go at this point (even thought he’s first in the balloting he’s 3rd or 4th in most of the stats that matter and is hitting under .270).

The one cavet that I would entertain is something that I brought up on my blog and that is since this is the 1B All Star ballot, not the DH ballot that Ortiz doesn’t deserve to go…

However…

Since I know there isn’t a DH category since we are playing in an NL Park in the 2007 ASG…

But that doesn’t mean that 1B’s don’t get to play in the AL and shouldn’t be recognized.

Maybe the ASG should be played under AL rules EVERY year no matter if the game is played in an NL or an AL park so that the AL 1B’s can get voted on due to 1B merit.

Or maybe in the years that the game is played in an NL park and under NL rules there should be a “Pinch Hitter” category instead of a “Designated Hitter” category?

I mean it doesn’t seem fair not to consider Hafner, Ortiz, and Giambi at all — but at the same time it’s not fair to Youkilis, Teixiera, Kotchman, Pena, and Garko to have to compete with Hafner and Ortiz on the ballot?

In any event — I just want to let you know how much I enjoy your blog and your comments on mine.

I will support my team as you will yours but I don’t see any reason we can’t have civil discussions about the sport and the players we both follow.